1979 Malibu "A Body" pulse delay wiper conversion

[Beatx4]

Hello, first off let me apologize for creating a new and rather lengthy thread on a delay wiper conversion, I have browsed through various posts and utilized the search feature of this form. I find a lot of information regarding the conversion for an 80 and later conversion with the single green wire dash switch as well as converting to column switched delay wipers form late (84 and up) model G Body's.

My question is this, I have a 1979 Malibu with standard 2 speed hi/ low wipers and want to convert to pulse delay wipers. I have the hard to come by 1978- 1979 dash mounted delay wiper switch with 3 12" wires coming off of it, as well as a 1978- 1979 delay wiper motor and washer pump with timing relay and circuit board which is unique to the 1978 - 1979 and has 2 additional "delay" wires. I ordered a 1979 delay wiper harness form OPGI as it is a separate harness form the main dash wiring.

According to the 1979 electrical wiring diagrams for the wipers, there is supposed to be a hole in the firewall near the brake booster and or C100 engine wire harness bulkhead. I have looked all over the firewall engine side and passenger compartment side and am unable to locate any blank hole with a rubber seal on it to run the additional wiring harness through. The harness has a grommet installed on it for this reason.

Does anyone know if the hole in the firewall was only punched out if the vehicle was manufactured with the delay wiper option? Also is there anything else besides the wiring issue that I'm missing or need to complete this conversion?

I have the all the listed above items for an 1980- 1981 conversion as well in case with the single green wire if for some reason I'm not able to get the 1978- 1979 parts to work. Someone on one of the posts mentioned they ran their single green wire through an open connection in C100, would that mean they didn't have a hole for the grommet also? Also it was mentioned aside from the green wire a white wire (power) IIRC was needed to be run as well is that correct? I can and will take pictures of anything requested to assist in figuring this out if necessary.

Thank you,
-Scott

 

[Longroof79]

No introduction in 4 yrs??...and this is your first post? C'mon man...we'd be glad to help answer your questions, but get with the program.
In any event...welcome to the forum.

Btw, I've had to drill a separate hole to feed the extra wires thru.

 

[pontiacgp]

If you have had a G body for 4 years and have been able to solve all the problems without help then you should go to the head of the class...

 

[sportriderOK]

Welcome out of the shadows! My 79 Monte has factory delay wipers, if there is anything I can take photos of for you I'd be happy to. I even have the cluster out right now.

 

[motorheadmike]

No introduction in 4 yrs??...and this is your first post?

At least it is a well written, thought out, and researched first post. How often do we get that?

To avoid this issue I actually swapped the entire harness from an '87 model year car. I doubt that is the answer you wanted to hear.

 

[pontiacgp]

At least it is a well written, thought out, and researched first post. How often do we get that?

If I had 4 years to write my posts they would be clear and well written....but not thought out, that is too much for me to handle...

 

[Beatx4]

Thank you for the warm and welcoming introduction I'm sorry for no introduction it was late and I wasn't really thinking about that. I signed up with G Body Forums quite a while a go and never posted anything. I have read various articles on here and have found this forum to be very informative. I am more than happy to upload pictures of the Malibu for anyone interested in seeing it.

As for the ownership of the Malibu, well that's another story. I wish it was actually mine. My dad purchased it new to his specification back in 1979 at a long gone Chevrolet Dealer in Canoga Park California called Clem Ruh Chevrolet. Due to the weight limit of a 305 engine THM-350 and A/C (or it was a 350 engine or both) Chevrolet wouldn't allow that combination to be ordered to the public. I believe that Chevrolet didn't want the average consumer to have a vehicle similar in performance to a 9C1 of the era

The car was a daily driver for several years up until around 2000's and then has not been driven as a daily driver much and my dad stopped taking care of it a long time a go. If I was old enough when the car was younger I would have done something about it sitting. Sadly the interior, paint and body is needing a lot of work. No rust, just dents, chipped paint, chalky plastic trim, rotted rubber seals etc. Mechanically it runs and drives well, with exceptions of course. I wan't to restore it using NOS and or good used original parts however that has become a difficult task to locate them. I have a bit of NOS parts stored up and several I'm still looking for. The Malibu has been a one owner California car its entire life. Oh, as for not needing help in 4 years, I haven't actually done much work to it Its mostly stock (the way I like it) however I don't like its the rotted plastics and falling apart pieces this is partially because it's an expensive project and I wan't to gather as many parts before doing any major work. Since I"m not the owner (yet) my dad basically lets me do what I wan't (restrictions apply for now) with restoring it.

Now on to the wiper question, I would love to see some pictures of your delay wiper setup SportriderOK As far as swapping the steering column I would love to eventually with a tilt column, however have not found a 1978- 1981 column in good condition with floor shift. Also I don't know if my steering shaft is a D shape or spline drive as I heard there's different versions. So the setup I posted should be a plug and play installation since I have all the parts for a 1978- 1979 delay wiper setup correct? Is there any major difference between the 1978- 1979 and 1980- 1981 delay wiper setup besides using the single green wire for delay?

Thank you,
-Scott

 

[pontiacgp]

Welcome to the forum and it's good you have a sense of humor. If you switch your column for a tilt and the steering shaft isn't the same design you can use the shaft that works with the column.

 

[Beatx4]

Thank you for the welcome and yes, I do have a sense of humor as well So What your saying is if I locate a nice 1978- 1981 tilt steering column I'm able to use my original steering shaft if the one that came with the tilt column is not correct?

I just received my NOS 1981 "single green wire" dash mounted switch in the mail a few minutes ago So I was trying to bench test the various motors I have based on a Youtube video of a guy showing how to do so however was unsuccessful in getting any of the motors to function. Maybe I didn't hook something up correctly.... Either way, to ensure I didn't break anything doing so (heard a little click which I'm assuming was the park switch disengaging) I decided to plug the motors into the cars wiring and using an alligator clip jumper wire for ground, grounded the motor. The good news is I didn't break anything (yet and hopefully won't later on) doing so. The original motor functions properly.

On to my next "delay style" motor test was unsuccessful in the car. I was being very cautious in this test as I didn't want to burn up the motor, cars wiring, or switch. I hooked up the main 3 pin wiring harness, grounded the motor to a bolt in the fender, turned the key to the on position and nothing happened, I was quick to disconnect the power to the motor to avoid any potential damage. I tried this same test procedure with both the 1978- 1979 delay motor as well as with the 1980- 1981 delay motor.

I must mention however I did not change the dash switch form the original 1979 non delay dash mounted switch for these tests as I was under the impression I could use a delay motor with standard switch on low and high speed only. If this is not the case then that explains why I was only successful in testing the original 1979 non delay motor in this fashion.

Maybe It's me not reading schematics properly, or being familiar with older GM vehicles, but something so simple seems so complex for its time. Granted I didn't use the proper switch I'm also very worried I will destroy something especially one of the rare and expensive NOS delay switches I have. Or worse the original non delay wipers stop working for some reason. I do have a question regarding the parking of the blades, however I think another thread would be more appropriate for that as I don't want to jumble up this thread.

I will be heading to work soon so I may not get to responding/ testing further until later tonight. As always thank you for any advise and assistance in helping me get through this delay conversion.

 

[pagrunt]

I'm not sure if this helps, but my '81 Monte came with the 2 speed wipers & I have started to do the converson. I used an open wire port in the main harness to run the green wire with the other wiper wires, this way there won't be an extra hole if I don't get done. I don't have the right delay motor yet but I'm set up to keep the green wire unpluged at both the switch & motor ends. With your column, you have the D shaped shaft ('79-'88 columns) so if you swap it out you'll be able to keep the lower shaft or go with a Jeep or Astro van shaft converson.